The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of device for assisting the performance of exact hand movements, in particular those carried out by a surgeon when performing time-consuming and complex micro-surgical operations, which device is of the type comprising at least one support or support member which is accommodated to the human arm or the hand.
There is already known to the art a device from German patent publication No. 2,352,026 for assisting the human arm in carrying out exact movements, for instance during micro-surgical operations, which device comprises rod members guided in appropriately structured clamping jaws and arranged laterally of the operation table, this device being elevationally adjustable and stationarily affixed to the operation table. Such device essentially comprises a slide ring secured to the upper end of the rods, this slide ring being partially open and inclinable in relation to the support surface of the operation table. Upon such slide ring there is randomly displaceable a carriage possessing two overhang arms formed thereat and directed towards the operating or work zone and the center of the slide ring, respectively. In each case a support web is arranged upon the overhang arms and at such support web there is articulated at the front region thereof a respective support element which can be pivoted through a predetermined angle and can be rocked up or down and at the same time fixed in the desired adjusted position. When performing an operation with this equipment the user must first shift the slide ring in relation to the operation table and thereafter place the carriage together with the arm-support webs in the necessary position corresponding to the work- and operation zone which is accommodated to the patient. This device is associated with the drawback that the user, namely most frequently the doctor or surgeon, is unable to correct or change, during the operation, the support elements which were adjusted prior to performing the operation, without endangering the sterility of his or her hands. Additionally, such type of devices which are stationarily fixed to the operation table have not been successful in practice due to the rather rigid elements which protrude into the operation-working field or zone and markedly limit the freedom of movement of the user.